


Howl

by Saerus2665



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Keith (Voltron), Alpha Shiro (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beta Hunk (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Literally just an excuse to write some pack feels and snuggles, M/M, Mid-season 5, Minor Violence, Omega Lance (Voltron), Pack Dynamics, Pack Family, Post-Season 4, Shiro (Voltron) Has a Clone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-01-15 18:45:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18504868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saerus2665/pseuds/Saerus2665
Summary: Being the only Omega in space has always had its challenges, but his pack has always been there to make it easier. But now that Lotor's now on the Galran throne, Keith is with the blade, and Shiro’s just acting altogether different, their pack is being fractured by more than just the distance between them. With some difficult choices ahead, Lance tries to do his best to manage with the cards he’s been dealt, but how far will he be able to get without the help of his pack?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse for this. I just wanted to write pack family feels. I wrote this back between season four and five, so just transport yourself back to that simpler time and forget everything else that happened. Also, I was pretty sure we were two years in timeline back when I wrote this which, according to the official timeline...was not the case...Cue canon divergence.

Allura and Lotor were getting along so much more lately. 

It was a good because Allura could be downright vile to people when she wanted to.   
It was a bad thing, because if Lance m made a list of the top three people he actually wanted Allura to be vile towards, Lotor would in fact be all three. 

Maybe he was being unfair. It wasn’t like Lotor had done anything personally against them- 

Oh, wait. He had. 

And it’s not that Lotor was the son of the 10,000 year old warlord who cast the universe into darkness and destroyed thousands people’s lives and directly attacked Voltron multiple times- 

Oh. Wait.

Lance trusted Lotor about as far as he could throw him. But it also seemed like he was quickly becoming the only one on the team who still had that sentiment. He had to admit that he’d sort of been holding out for Allura’s inherent disdain for the Galra only so that he wouldn’t be the last person on the team in obvious contempt of their new galra partnership. 

But Lance could tell just by the way that Allura was letting Lotor lead in their joint briefing that she wasn’t nearly as reluctant towards him Lance would like anymore. Ever since they went on their “Magic Altean Mystery Mission” together, the two of them seemed to have developed a stronger mutual understanding. 

Lance hated it. 

Lotor and Allura were briefing Pidge and Hunk on the fundamental differences between Galran and Altean technology. All of the team were a main conference halls at the Galra headquarters, seated at the end of a long dark console table. The room was big, dimly lit like most of the galra facilities, and echoes at smallest sounds. It made their group of five feel tiny to Lance. 

Hunk and Pidge were sitting next to each other, listening to Lotor and Allura across from them. A tiny holo-projector was set up on thee table between the four of them. It projected miniature Galra battle cruiser above it.   
Lance sat a few seats down the table from Hunk, only half listening to the conversation. 90% of it was over his head. He was really only there for moral support and to offer his opinion should the need- for once in a blue moon- arise. 

To pass the time, Lance was flicking mindlessly through some old galran battle reports he’d downloaded in the library. Coran had actually offhandedly mentioned them some time ago, before all this came to head with Lotor. The Galra were meticulous in their strategic record keeping. They had all their rehearsals, formations and and drills carefully documented. Lance figured they might as well take advantage of this entire Galran/Altean information exchange, even if he wasn’t 100% on board with it. 

Lotor had actually been the one to direct Lance to the place in the library where he could download the files. Which made him think that maybe he wasn’t being fair to him and Allura. He supposed people changed, but, sometimes- and not for the first time- he wished they didn’t

The reports did very little to help him to keep him from feeling out of place. It was Hunk and Pidge’s mission that they’d designed on their own. None of it really concerned him. 

Once again, he was just the extra paladin. 

But it was better than wandering the hallways of the galran HQ on his own. So far, he’d just been sticking close to Hunk and Pidge while they played around with Galran technology. But now the two were going to be helping facilitate repairs on some of the Galran warships that had been damaged during Zarkon’s reign.The assignment had come about when Hunk and Pidge had combined their knowledge of the Altean castle-ship and the lions with the schematics they’d found of one the Galra battle cruisers. The two had been able to come up with improvements to the fleet’s ships that would provide an immense advantage against any remaining Galra that stood up to challenge Lotor for his new throne. 

Shiro had been adamant about implementing the changes as soon as he saw them. His expression had radiated that charismatic warm alpha pride that made even Lance’s heart feel warm.

Both Lotor and Allura been harder to convince. Lotor worried about how the Galra would react to two paladins having complete access to their most advanced ships and weapons. Allura had been more concerned about having two paladins so far away from the rest of the team. Shiro has eventually managed to convince them both of his plan in a meeting that apparently Lance hadn’t been invited to. He’d only heard about it after Hunk and Pidge had come to find him later in the day. They were thankfully both so excited that they missed the way Lance’s expression fell as he ate his food goo. 

He was excited and genuinely proud of of both of them, but why hadn’t anyone invited him to that meeting? Lance told himself that it made sense; the mission didn’t directly affect him so he really hadn’t needed to be there, but a wry and nasty part of him still twisted at being excluded. 

They’d always made their choices as a team. Had no one really thought of him when they were all together in that conference room?

And no matter much as Shiro touted this project, and even if both him and Allura seemed perfectly comfortable with it now, and Hunk and Pidge were both so excited for it, Lance’s instincts wouldn’t relent with their incessant demanding that this was a mistake. Every time they helped Lotor by giving him a new weapon or new intel, they were helping him beat Voltron too. Lance remembered all too well how quickly Lotor has seen their weaknesses and taken advantage of them the first time they’d met in battle. With Shiro so obviously stressed out, Allura still coming into her new abilities, Keith gone, and Voltron coming off a very near defeat that had almost killed all of them, Lance couldn't help but wonder how many weaknesses they were all sporting now. 

The doors to the conference room swung open and Lotor paused in his talking. Shiro slipped into the room, offering all a small wave as he shut the door behind him. “Sorry I’m late, guys.” He looked a little sheepish. “I keep getting turned here.”

For whatever reason, Lance didn’t believe him. Mostly because of the deliberate pace he’d seen Shiro take when they walked through the Galra base, but also something in the way Shiro talked just sounded off. Lance pushed it out of his head and flicked through another report. He spent far too much time pondering Shiro lately.

“I think we’re all off put in the unfamiliar territory” Allura gave Shiro a patient smile. The alpha paladin took a seat between Lance and Hunk. “We’re just finishing up going over energy sources.” She motioned for for Lotor to continue.

Lotor and Allura began again. Despite himself, Lance couldn’t help but notice just how tired Shiro looked. The bags under his eyes and the tension in his jaw were obvious. It worried Lance. Shiro normally looked worse for wear these days, but it always triggered worry in him, no matter how normal it was becoming. Lately, that feeling came right alongside an unsettling chill of anxiety. A tired Shiro meant a less patient Shiro and Lance had been trying his very hardest to not try Shiro’s patience lately. 

There was also the matter of Shiro’s scent. It was frustrating, honestly, because really, there was nothing distinctly off about it. His omega instincts gave him a stronger sense of smell than the others, but it still didn’t let him parse anything out of it. Really, the weirdness to it had been there for as long as Lance can think to remember, but it still always registered as off. Lance had tried to dismiss the feeling as pointless omega anxiety. He tried to tell himself it was just stress, which had the capability to turn a scent sour, but his anxiety was never lessened. Lance knew there was something wrong. There just wasn’t anything else he could do about it. 

Lance quickly dropped his gaze back to his tablet when Shiro glanced over at him. 

He’d finally found a report to read that seemed vaguely useful but it wasn’t doing any good now because all Lance could focus on was Shiro. 

Lotor and Allura finished their meeting with Shiro’s occasional inputs. Hunk and Pidge briefly got into a fight about some type of converter. Lance spent most of the time trying to make himself read the reports. Towards the end, Lotor was called away by a galra general.

Hunk piped up once everything was finished. “Hey, maybe Lance could come with us too?” He said it with an air of being just a little bit too forced. Allura powered down the projector in the middle of the table. Lance tensed immediately. If Shiro wanted him to be going on that mission, he’d be going. But Hunk and Pidge weren’t the types to pick up on that. They were just being good friends. 

“It has been kinda of boring just hanging out here in the headquarters.” Pidge looked down at him from the other end of the table, quirking an eyebrow, “We all know the last time Lance got bored.”

Allura groaned and shook her head at the memory of that particular mishap. 

Hunk nodded. “Yeah and Lance does a pretty good job keeping some of us from overworking ourselves” He very pointedly looked at Pidge who blithely ignored him. 

Despite his hesitance, Lance’s heart still warmed at his packmates. Hunk beamed at him and he leaned his head in one hand and cocked a finger gun to back. He had the best packmates. 

Shiro shifted his weight to lean back in his chair. Before he even spoke Lance could tell the the answer was no. “Lance should stay here.” The alpha sighed at all three of their fallen expressions. “I’m sorry, but he’s the only one not currently busy and we might need to send him out if something comes up on any of our coalition planets.”

Both Hunk and Pidge visibly deflated, but then Lance was suddenly struck with a last minute desperation to not be left here alone. “I could always just fly back if there’s an issue…” As soon as he spoke he regretted it. Shiro’s shoulders grow stiffer and his scent sharpened, becoming more irritated and Alpha-like, even though outwardly his mouth only presses into a thin line.

“I’m sorry Lance,” His tone wasn’t even unkind, just tense, but it still made Lance flinch on the inside. “But unless you have a way you’d be useful on that mission, you should stay here.” 

That was the end of that argument. Shiro’s patience wasn’t worth testing over this. which Lance tried to convey to Hunk with a glance down the table. The beta looked put off but Hunk knew at least at this point not to push Shiro about it. 

 

 

Afterward the meeting, Lance tagged along back to the castle with Hunk and Pidge to help them prepare for their trip. 

He sat at Pidge’s workstation in the green lion’s hangar while the Pidge worked around him, packing up their tools and gadgets. Hunk was a ways away, sorting through some crates and containers of equipment. He hauled a pretty big box up in his arms, frowning contemplatively as he inspected it. 

“Do you think we’ll need a converter box?” He asked turning to face Pidge. 

Lance watched curiously as Pidge’s faced twitched briefly before they opened their mouth to answer. But then Hunk apparently answered his own question. 

“You know, nevermind. They probably already have them...” He set the box down and went back to poking through the rest of them further away. He was tense and muttering as he searched through the parts he had. He was anxious enough that it made Lance’s instincts alert, ready to go over if he really needed him. 

But Pidge’s scent was also holding undertones of blanketed unease, which was much more rare in the green paladin, so he hung back.

Pidge dropped their screwdriver a little bit too forcefully into their case. It clattered loudly in against the metal. Lance looked at it, then raised an eyebrow. Pidge quickly looked away, flustered. “Sorry…”

oh.

Lance leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk, resting chin in his palm and spinning a small circular gadget Pidge had on their desk. “What’s eaten ya, Pidgeot?”

Aggravation was the first thing that came up in Pidge’s scent, followed by frustration and defeat. Pidge's anxiously started twisting the ball end of some type of Altean tool between their fingers. It was odd, seeing them so stressed out- at least in a situation not about their family. 

“He’s just... really antsy” Pidge eventually admitted, their voice low enough for Hunk to not hear. It was muddled with guilt. “He...He really gets bad sometimes and I just- I know I don’t understand it. I feel like I always just end up making it worse when I try to tell him to calm down, but I just don’t know what else to do...” Pidge trailed off and then looked up at him with big, guilty eyes.

Pidge hadn’t presented yet. Their independence and bluntness all declared Beta to Lance, but Hunk was gunning more towards alpha. Hunk and Pidge had gotten close over their time in space but, now that Lance thought about it, the two of them hadn’t ever actually been out of their own before. Pidge had experienced Hunk’s anxiety before but never on their own. Lance was usually the first Pidge went to when Hunk’s anxiety got out of control. Then they usually just hung back until Lance settled him down enough to distract him with pack pile. 

It wasn’t out of apathy, because Pidge would spend the entire time laying with the two of them and whoever else was around until the frayed edges of fear in Hunk’s scent began to disappear. It hadn’t ever occurred to Lance to talk to Pidge about it afterward. Pidge wanted to help, they just didn’t know how. 

It made him feel guilty now, like he’d set them up for failure. But there would be time to brood on that later. Right now he needed Pidge to know that they could do this. 

Lance hummed thoughtfully, spinning the little gadget on the desk again. Earnest talks weren’t Pidge’s strong suit and he didn’t want to push them any further out of their comfort zone by trying to make the conversation more serious than it needed to be. 

“I know you’re not good at dealing with things that aren't rational, but Hunk’s anxiety just isn’t rational. You have to look at it that way if you want to understand.” Lance said. Simple and straightforward we’re the best ways to explain things to Pidge. Numbers and sciences were their thing. Human and pack intuition were not.

“Usually there’s more to it than he lets on. He only shows the tip of the iceberg most of the time,” Lance went on. “You can bet right now even that he’s trying hard to not let it overwhelm him.” Lance nodded subtly toward their beta as he came back into the hangar carrying an impossible amount of equipment cases. They both wave when Hunk set down the boxes and looked their way. He smiled and waved back.

“Just deal with it like you would a computer on the fritz,” Lance continued, keeping his voice quiet enough for only Pidge to hear and his expression neutra. “Identify the issue. Distract him enough from it to sort of reboot his brain and then work on solution together before it overwhelms him again.”

Pidge blinked at him, then huffed. “It can be that easy.”

Lance shrugged. He set the piece he’d been fiddling with back down on the table and turned to face Pidge fully. “Anxiety’s dynamic and you’ll never know exactly what to do in the situation, but you and Hunk are close. You’ve really bonded over these past few years up here and I think when the time comes, you’ll know what to do. Pretty soon, you’re going to be the best person at helping him.”

Pidge’s brows drew together as they contemplated Lance’s words. They glanced back up at Hunk while still fiddling with the tools in their case. Then their expression turned into a mix of determination and fondness. They slowly nodded.

“Okay, I think I can try.” They turned back to Lance, expression so open and kind that it caught him by surprise. “Thank you, Lance.”

Lance preened and grinned as he leaned back in his chair. “Not a problem for my two best beta’s” he said with a wink and then laughed when Pidge’s expression turned into an annoyed scowl.

“You don’t know that for certain yet, asshole.” They snatched back up the trinket Lance had been fiddling with off the desk and stowed it in their case.

Lance just crossed his arms sagely. “Sometimes an omega just knows, Pidge.”

“Fuck you, I could be an alpha”

Lance raised an amused eyebrow. “Do you like people enough to be an alpha? Do you know how patient Shiro has to be to deal with us?”

Well, Shiro hadn’t been very patient as of late, but that was beside the point. 

Pidge scoffed. “Yeah, Keith was also known for his legendary alpha patience…”

Lance immediately sat up straight. “Keith’s part galaran, their dynamics are wack and you know it.” He pointed at them accusingly. 

Pidge smirked and then closed the lid to their tool box with a very pointed click. 

“What?” 

Pidge hummed and tilted their head. “Nothing.” 

Before he could protest further Pidge grabbed their case and walked back over to Hunk. Lance continued to scowl at them as they went, but then dropped his gaze to give them some privacy. 

He couldn’t hear their conversation but he could tell from the uncharacteristic softness of Pidge’s voice that they were trying to be soothing. They gestured towards a case near Hunk’s right foot. The beta nodded and some tension melted out of his shoulders. He knelt down and picked it up. A fond smile twitched on Lance’s lips as he watched Hunk trot up the ramp of the Green lion to catch up with Pidge. 

The two of them would be alright. They’d only be gone for two weeks and their pack bond was strong. Lance was sure that both Hunk and Pidge could be there for each other when the other needed. The omega in him was proud that he’d been able to help them build such a strong bond. 

As for himself, Lance’s smile fell as he drummed his fingers against the table top, he’d just have find a way to be okay too.

 

Lance returned from a brief mission on Naxzela of all places feeling tired and worn down both physically and emotionally. He wanted nothing more than to fall into a pile of his pack but as soon as he landed Red and saw the empty hangars of Green and Yellow he remembered that half them weren’t there. 

Being on Naxzela had brought back memories of the horror they’d all faced, and the bleak, black, iron heavy hopelessness he’d felt the moment they’d realized Voltron wasn’t going to make it out of there. He could so clearly remember his pack’s terror, distress and fear from that day. It seemed like it stuck to his skin like dust. It set his teeth on edge and made him want to scent every member of his pack just to reassure himself that they were okay, but they weren’t there. 

They weren’t there and Lance...He just...

No. He was gonna be okay.

Not wanting to leave Red just yet, Lance began stripping off his armor, hoping that the rising feeling of anxiety beneath his skin would dissipate once it was off. A small pulse of curious comfort traveled down through his bond with Red. It was awkward and uncharacteristic of her but Lance still appreciated it. He told her as much. Even though their bond wasn’t as strong as it had been with Blue, having been formed out of necessity in the heat of battle, Lance was still grateful to have her there at the back of his mind, especially when he was feeling as miserable and disjointed as he was now. He missed his pack. Like a lot.

Like a lot a lot.

Oh, shit. Wait.

Lance leaned forward and snatched the arm guard he’d just dropped back off the floor. He activated the small tablet built into it and navigated to the calendar. He groaned when he saw a familiar block of days highlighted just one row below the bright orange day that marked today. 

That actually explained a lot. 

The mood swings, his growing longing for his pack...his growing anxieties around Shiro... 

His heat was coming. 

Ever since the first miserable heat he’d spent on the ship revealed that he was an omega to all of his friends and they’d offered their unconditional support, Lance hadn’t been getting stressed about his heats in space. They usually came six months apart and outside the waves intense and irrational need that built in spurts within him over the two of three days, the pack was more than willing to spend as much time burrowing with him in his built nests and surrounding him with their comforting scents.

But now something was different. It felt like his first heat in space all over again. He felt trapped and hopeless and even a little bit afraid. It was hard to think with his instincts starting to cloud his rationality more and more each day. 

He knew he should talk to Shiro. The pack alpha’s scent would do more to calm him and clear his head than anything Allura’s or Coran’s or even Hunk and Pidge could do. But Lance was hesitant. Shiro was stressed and he busy with Lotor and the Galra and judging by the way he’d been so short and snappish with Lance lately, he doubted Shiro would even want to take the time to be with Lance during his heat. 

But he had to ask. 

Lance exhaled shakily and ran his hand through his hair. Being alone during a heat could make it turn dry and dry heats were just….the worst. Memories of his body feeling like a desert, patchey, withering and burning from the inside out made his breath catch. He dropped the arm guard he was holding and his heart seized at the weight of the situation. Lance just- 

He just didn’t know what to do.

His breathing sped up and Red’s concern flared, warm and orange at the edge of his mind. He swallowed hard. Before he could fall into a real panic attack the droning beep of an incoming call suddenly echoed throughout the cockpit.

Red answered it before Lance could react. He was greeted by the crowded image of Pidge’s face on the screen and Hunk’s squished off to the side.

“Lance!” Pidge piped excitedly. 

“Hunk, Pidge!” Lance said excitedly. He cleared his throat to keep his voice from breaking. “What’s up you guys?” 

“We just got off a call with Shiro, Lotor and Allura” Hunk said.

“You weren’t back yet so we figured we’d give you a call too.” Pidge nodded.

Lance paused, surprised. “You called me too?” He asked before he could stop himself.

“Well...yeah.” Pidge looked confused. 

“Of course we did, dude. We’re on lunch” Pidge turned the camera more towards him as he spoke. He looked like he was working on screwing something together. “Well, ‘Lunch’,” he amended, giving Lance air quotes, “their food goo? Ten-times worse than our food goo.” He threw his hands up dramatically. “Like, how is that even possible? It’s a goo!”

Pidge gave Lance a solemn look. “Hunk has some complaints about where the Galra have chosen to focus their priorities over the past ten-thousand years” 

Lance snorted. Heart warm with relief at seeing the both of them were doing just fine. He could already feel the tension bleed out of his shoulders at the sight of Pidge’s freckles and bright green eyes and the small sliver of Hunks face. They both looked just elated to have basically the entire Galra fleet at their fingertips, despite Hunk’s complaining. 

A different part of him ached to have them back home. That part was selfish and needy and he refused to acknowledge it. 

Hunk finished what he was working on and took the tablet from Pidge so they both could fit in the frame. Pidge squinted childishly at him. 

Hunk ignored them. “Lance, how’ve things been buddy?”

Pidge leaned forward in. “Yeah, Shiro said you went on a mission?” 

“Ah, yeah,” Lance began, itching at a spot on the back of his neck. Should he tell them about it? Was it really something that he should bother them with? Lance cleared his throat, remembering Hunk’s words to him after the team discovered he’d hidden his first heat from them. “Yeah, it was on Naxzela, so uh” he dropped his arm back to his side and winced a bit. “A lot of bad memories there, ya know.” 

Both Hunk and Pidge’s expressions turned to “Oh.”

Hunk spoke first. “You... alright buddy? That’s a lot of bad memories, especially for...you.”

An omega, was what he meant to say.

“Yeah, you were pretty messed up for a while after that.” Pidge added. “Shiro sent you back there for what?” 

Lance tilted his head and shrugged. “The repair crews needed some help and Red’s good at welding,” He said, laughing dryly. “And I’m fine, just a little...tense.” 

Before Hunk or Pidge could say anything, something loud clanged off screen behind them, making them all jump. 

“What was that?” Lance asked. 

Both Hunk and Pidge were craning their necks to look at something off screen. Hunk looked mildly amused while Pidge’s expression morphed into one of growing horror. 

“Hey, don’t!” Pidge yelled and got to their feet. “No, hey! Stop that, you stupid bot!” 

Hunk laughed loudly as Pidge ran out of frame. “Pidge tried to reprogram a Galran bot to do some of the repairs even though we are all perfectly capable of doing the work ourselves.” He chuckled. 

“Robots are superiors workers!” Pidge called.

“One of them just put a screwdriver through a control panel”

“It was a minor calibration error” Pidge yelled back, shortly followed by a quieter, “oh god.”

“The ethics of robot use are something we will never agree upon,” Hunk lamented, shaking his head. After a moment, his expression turned more serious again. “You still don’t look too good.” He frowned.

“Geez, thanks man” Lance huffed, scratching at a spot beneath his ear. 

“I’m just saying, maybe you should go hang out with Shiro for a bit.”

“I don’t want to talk to Shiro,” Lance answered automatically and then immediately flinched when he realized what he’d said. 

Hunk didn’t press, but a different expression came across his face, one Lance couldn’t read, but it was serious. He wished he could smell Hunk’s scent now to decipher it. Hunk instead went on. “Allura then? Or Coran? They’re not alphas but they’re pack.”

Lance folded his arms over his chest. “They’re probably with Lotor” Lance mumbled sullenly. And he’s not pack, is what he didn’t add. He didn’t really need to judging by how Hunk’s expression became more complicated.

“Pidge and I left our blankets and stuff in our room, you could use those to build a nest to calm down for now, but Lotor and Shiro are going out on a different mission later today so you can- and should- talk to Allura then, okay?”

Lance pressed his lips together, unsure. “Yeah, okay” He said, already weighing if he really would or not.

“Seriously, dude. You shouldn’t be alone right now.” Hunk pressed. “And at the risk of sounding like a mother hen, if you can’t be around Shiro, you’re gonna have to talk to her about your heat too.” 

Fuck. Of course Hunk was keeping track of them too. 

In truth, Lance felt like burying himself in blankets this went away entirely. Another part of him, one that’s been a lot more vocal lately, resented the fact that Hunk was even stressing about this altogether.

Pidge reappeared in the frame before Lance got the chance to say anything. Their short hair had soot in it and they had smudges across their face. “So the main power generator overloaded and caught fire. Something caused it’s regulators to fail” 

“Was that something a screwdriver through a control panel?” Hunk asked plainly. 

“Irrelevant” They said, then turned back to Lance. “We’re gonna have to draw energy from the rest of the base to get it running enough to finish the installments.”

Hunk’s heaved a dramatic sigh. “There goes my comforting Galra night light” 

“Along with most of our other electronics.” Pidge’s said bitterly as leaned to the side to type something off screen. “Sorry Lance,” They said, turning back toward him. “We’ve got to start diverting all the extra energy use in this base into the generators if we want to finish these updates on time, which means no more Space Skype.”

Lance’s heart sank but he swallowed it whole. He didn’t need to stress his friends out any more than they already were. 

“We can still get messages though” Hunk piped up from over Pidge’s shoulder, “So message us!” His look was stern enough that Lance knew their conversation wasn’t over just yet. He also added, “and talk to Allura!”

“Yeah, if you could tell Allura and Shiro about our situation, maybe she can get Lotor to send another generator when he gets back” 

Lance gave them his best grin and mock salute. “Roger that, will do.”

Both paladins waved goodbye.The image stilled then went blank, leaving Lance alone in the dark red glow of Red’s cockpit. 

Lance sighed and leaned back in his pilot's chair, suddenly exhausted. He needed to get up. He needed to get up and take a shower and eat some goo, then find Pidge and Hunks blankets and hibernate for a few hours before he went to find Allura. He needed to do that but his legs and his body just felt like lead from exhaustion. He didn’t want to move. He kind of just wanted to stay in the warm, almost too cozy, cockpit of Red forever. He wanted to build his nest in here…

Now there was an idea. 

Shiro’s lion was already gone by the time Lance got out of Red which made going through the main body of the castle and gathering up items a lot less stressful. 

Almost an hour later, Lance had set up a small nest of Hunk and Pidge’s blankets across the floor of Red behind the pilot's chair. Each of the lions had a small swing bed against the wall behind the cockpit incase of impromptu covernight missions. They were horrifically uncomfy. Lance used it now as an overhang to build his nest under. Just as he was perfecting it, another beeping from an incoming call broke the silence. At first he thought it was Hunk and Pidge again but then remembered what day it was.

“Oh, Shit” He scrambled to his feet and into the pilot’s chair just as Red answered the call. 

“Keith!” 

“Hey,it’s Wednesday and you didn’t call.” Keith’s brow furrowed. ” I wanted to check in on you. Shiro said you were on a mission?” From the background, Lance could guess he was in the cockpit of a ship or something. Keith was in his Marmora gear. He looked tired. There was a smudge of something across one of his cheeks. 

“Yeah,” Lance answered, swallowing. He prayed Keith that didn’t notice his nest in the background. “On Naxzela. It went great” His words caught up with him and he inwardly swore at himself.

“Naxzela?” Keith asked, his nose turning down. “What for?” 

“Repairs! Welding would have been Red’s job in another life”

“Repairs?” Keith demanded.

Lance gave a weak wave of his hand. “It’s not that big of a deal”

“Hunk said you lost your shit for two days after Naxzela”

“He’s overreacting.” Lance answered, face flushing. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It is a big deal, because-”

“Keith!” Lance said, clasping his hands together. “Is this something we can argue about later? I’m kind of in the middle of something.” 

Keith looked like he wanted to keep pushing it, but after a moment, he finally just sighed. “Fine. yeah, whatever.” He picked up a piece of paper from off screen and began reading a list of information from it. Lance had set up these little exchanges every week under the pretense of sharing intel between the blade and voltron. It definitely was 100% not a reason for him to see Keith every week.

Watching Keith’s small movements as he spoke was enough to stir up the feelings in Lance’s stomach he’d been trying to shove down for the longest time. Lance was suddenly struck by how much he missed the Red Paladin. He missed the alpha’s sharpness, his fire, his dedication. He missed Keith.

Fuck. Lance sincerely hoped that losing Shiro wasn’t enhancing his feelings for Keith because that might end up with Lance launching himself straight across the galaxy in Red to bring the other paladin back.

I would help with that, Red supplied.

Suddenly, Keith’s whole screen jerked sideways. Keith immediately swore, lurching forward to grab the ship’s controls in order to steady it. “Sorry about that, my- uh, Krolia- working on ship repairs.”

“Did you just almost forget your teammates name?” Lance asked, amused.

“I did not almost forget,” Keith grit out before seemingly realizing something. He exhaled, short and tense. “It’s...been a long day. We just finished possibly… the biggest mission of my life. I think Kolivan’s going to let us take a break and see how things play out for a while now.” 

Lance perked up immediately. “So you’re coming back?” 

Keith looked at him, confused. “What? No, there’s still a lot of work we might have to help with.”

“You just said you finished your biggest mission!” Lance pointed out, “So what are you staying for then?”

Keith shook his head, frustrated. “It’s not that simple and you know it. The blade needs me”

Something hot and ugly reared its head inside of Lance “There are plenty of blade members, Keith. There are only 5 paladins ” 

Keith’s eyes narrowed with that lethal sort of anger he was known for. “I’ve spent my whole life trying to find a place where I belong, where I’m happy. Now that I’ve found it I’m just not ready to let that go just yet.” he snapped. “I’m useful here Lance. I’ve found my purpose after years of searching. You wouldn’t know what that’s like”

Lance froze in his seat. No, no he was right. He didn’t know what it was like. To be useful. He thought he had, he thought he was helping hold this pack together, but now they were all in separate parts of the galaxy and he was the only one here that truly needed everyone. Just a needy omega. Lance felt his throat clench and tighten. He wanted more than anything to just be near someone right now. 

“Lance that’s not what I meant-“

Lance cleared his throat. He leaned forward and pulled up his own list of intel from Keith on from Red’s dashboard. 

“Shiro and Lotor are out on a joint mission right now in the Nayabla system right now. Hunk and Pidge are working on Galran fleet repairs until next week. Allura’s learning more about her new powers. We’re working on syncing the castle’s data system to the Galrans right now but it’s taking a lot longer since the two systems aren’t compatible with each other.” Lance read off the list of updates, clicking aimlessly through the functions on his control panel as he talked, anything to keep from having to look at Keith right now. “And that’s about it for Voltron updates.” 

“Lance, please, I didn’t mean it like that.” 

Lance brushed him off, shaking his head. He had to hold it together. Keith didn’t need to be stressed about him too. “It’s chill dude, really. Next Wednesday then, for an update.” He paused, remembering his calendar from earlier. “Oh shit. Wait, you’ll have to call Shiro next week, since it’s my heat…”

Keith paused, confused. “Won’t Shiro be with you?” 

Lance pursed his lips, drumming his fingers on Red’s console. “Things are weird right now, he’s busy.” He said, slowly, carefully, because this was Keith he was talking to, Shiro fan #1. He didn’t want to start anything else with Keith by implying something was wrong with Shiro. “Just leave it” he added when he saw Keith’s expression. 

“He’s the pack alpha, though”

“I know that,” Lance snapped. “Just leave it.”

Keith threw out his hands. “I don’t understand why you’re so upset with me today” 

“I don’t understand why you can’t just leave things alone.” 

“So you want me to just drop it? Let you be mad and take it out on me without even telling me why?” Keith scoffed.

“I didn’t even say anything!” Lance retaliated.

“You didn’t have to Lance, I know you enough!” 

Lance crossed his arms, brimming with hot, gritty frustration.“Well maybe things have changed since you were last here, Keith” 

“What...?”

Lance deflated, looking down. “Shiro’s the black paladin. I’m not going to make him stay if he needs to be somewhere across the galaxy”

“That’s not how heats work Lance, you could-“

“It’s not really your concern at this point, dude.” Lance said, head snapping back up. “It doesn’t have anything to do with you”

“It’s got everything to do with me. It’s our pack and if you-“

“You finally found your pack, Keith, like you said.” Lance said, glaring. “Just leave it at that and let me deal with this. It’s not your problem anymore.” He felt frustrated, embarrassed and oddly guilty about even having to argue about his heat with Keith.

Keith’s expression turned so openly hurt that it made Lance pause. It only lasted a second. Keith was quick to school his features back again. He swallowed hard before say anything. “If that’s what you wanted you could’ve just said it.”

He didn’t wait for Lance to say anything else. The screen went black, leaving Lance alone again.

Sadness sunk back into his skin like ink. His emotions felt out of his control, sunk deep within his and grinding against each other. Lance didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to curl up in the nest anymore, it suddenly felt tainted with the residual heat of the argument. He didn’t have the energy to move it either. Honestly,he didn’t even want it anymore. He didn’t want to do anything. 

Lance knew this was bad. He usually could solve things by nesting. But his problems seemed suddenly too big. He wanted to apologize to Keith, who was galaxies away, but he couldn’t. He wanted to curl up next to Hunk or play videos with Pidge. He wanted to talk to Shiro, actual Shiro, but he couldn’t. 

Frustration burned bright through the mess of the rest of his emotions. Lance shook his head shortly and then slammed his hand against Red’s dashboard. A sharp bolt of pain shot up his arm, and he yelped and clutching at it. Red flared back at him, irritated. Lance massaged the bruise sourly, feeling like a complete idiot. The pain did help clear out of the fog of his emotions clouding his head. He sighed, sitting back in his chair. There were a few moments where he just sat there, glaring at his console before he finally exhaled and murmured, “Sorry Red.”

Red gave him a small wave of begrudging reassurance, but also said “Allura” and dropped jaw open. 

Lance took the hint. 

He still smelled like smoke and Naxzela, so he took a shower first. The warmth of the water did a lot to relax his muscles and clear his head. By the time he found the princess, he just felt more exhausted than anything else, which he preferred to the anxious, frustrated mess of emotions that had been overwhelming him earlier.

Allura was in the common room, drinking some bastardized version of tea that Altean’s had which had the consistency and also, oddly, the taste of glue. She had the cup cradled in her hand, resting the rim against her chin, but her attention was focused elsewhere. A datapad sat in her lap, forgotten. She was sort of staring out across the emptiness of the common room, a complex expression on her face. She didn’t notice Lance came in until he walked around the other side of the couch. 

Her face relaxed into a gentle smile when she noticed him. their eyes met. “Hello Lance,” She scooted over a bit on the couch, an open invitation. 

He sat down next to her, tucking his knees up under his chin and draping his arms down across his shins. 

She watched him, taking in his posture and expression. Lance tried to make himself seem more relaxed under her scrutiny but found he couldn’t. Allura eventually leaned forward and set her datapad on the table before turning to face him fully. “How was your mission?” 

Lance hummed, clearing his throat. “Good, good. The repair work went well, everything should be up and running pretty soon.” He had to work to keep his tone as light as possible.

Allura’s eye drifted downward to where he was unconsciously fiddling with the frayed hem of his jeans. “Are you alright?” Her eyebrow arched in concern. “You look terrible.”

Lance let out a puff of laughter and buried his face in his knees. “Everyone keeps saying that...I’m just tired.” He glanced over at her. She did not look convinced. 

Even if she didn’t have a secondary gender, Allura was pack. She was also incredibly smart. Ever since day one Allura had been trying to understand their pack dynamics and honestly, she’d gotten pretty good at it. Which was why with a sinking feeling Lance realized she wasn’t just letting this one slide. 

Lance sighed again. After a moment, he lifted his head again. He met Allura’s expression and then grimaced as he tried to stop himself from crying once again today. 

Allura tutted at his expression and scooted closer. She sat next to him and pulled him into a half embrace, arm curling around his shoulders. 

Her comforting warmth was enough to keep his anxiety at bay. He finally told her all about Naxzela, Hunk and Pidge’s technical issues, and then his conversation with Keith. He left out the part about their argument. It felt to personal and also too stupid for him to want to share that with Allura. 

He knew he shouldn’t have said those things to Keith, but Keith…Keith should have been more aware. He acted like he didn’t want to be part of their pack, what were they supposed to do? Lance had spent night after night just pondering the Keith-shaped hole in their pack. He only called once a week, he never made it seem like he wanted to still be part of their pack. Lance didn’t think he’d care to still be so involved in their pack life. 

“It sounds like you’ve had a long day, Lance” Allura said after he finished. “I’m really sorry that Shiro’s not here. He would probably help you more right now.” Her gaze fell down to the sofa, looking a little guilty. It tugged at Lance’s heart to see, even if it was only for the briefest of seconds. 

“Actually, you’re…. helping a lot more than Shiro would right now.” He admitted. “He and I have been butting heads so much lately, I’m not sure how much of a help he’d actually be…”

Allura winced slightly, but nodded. “He has been a bit touchy lately.” It relieved some part of Lance to know she felt the same.

At least he hadn’t been to only one to notice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go about as far south as south goes when Lance and Lotor set out on a mission together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooooorry guys for the extremely long update. No kidding, I think I re-wrote this chapter at least 5 times. A short disclaimer that it was either I spend another month fighting this and editing it or I just get it out now. Spelling and grammar mistakes are probably abound, I'm sorry in advance. Hopefully you can still enjoy the story :)
> 
> Little bit of a violence warning with this one, some fighting and stuff but nothing too terrible.

Lance stared down at the bowl of food in front of him.

 

_“Lance, these hearts... they’re starting to cause problems.”_

 

Shiro had come back earlier in the day. He’d found Lance in the training room and asked him to talk. The walk back to Shiro’s room had been silent, they entered in silence and then stood there in complete silence until finally Shiro finally sighed. 

 

_“Look, there’s no good way to say this...”_

 

Lance lifted spoon his and turned over some of the food goo, interrupting the smooth surface it had settled into while he’d been staring at it. He knew he should eat. He’d skipped dinner last night and then breakfast this morning. He knew eating would make him feel better, make him more reasonable, less dramatic. 

 

He turned the spoon back over again, eyeing the glob of green goo stuck in the ladle.

 

_“Three whole days of us out of commission is just a long time for our enemies to act.”_

 

 _“I know you had your way of dealing with these things back on earth but you’re an adult now, and I know you can understand my concern here_.”

 

Lance understood it. But that didn’t make anything any better. 

 

His stomach twisted harshly. Lance let the spoon drop.  It clattered back into the bowl as he stood up, chair scraping against the floor. There was just no way he was going to be able to eat right now.

 

Lance left empty table. He felt bad about wasting the food so he took it with him back to his room, setting it down on the bedside table before collapsing onto his back on his bed. 

 

He couldn’t fall asleep yet, he still needed to go talk to Coran. 

 

Shiro’s words from earlier swirled around in his head like a storm. Lance let his arm fall across his eyes, trying to ground himself as Shiro’s words repeated over and over again. His throat started to grow tight and his breathing grew shallow.

 

After Shiro had finished speaking, Lance had been filled with that kind of clear-minded kind of logic that only came when you’re too shocked to process anything else. He knew Shiro was right, Lance had been putting in a big ticket to his team. They were the defenders of the universe first, a pack second, and even then, they were never really _Lance’s_ pack. A group of people thrown together to fight a space battle hardly made a pack. Having unfortunately been tossed out here with one omega into space didn’t make a pack. 

 

 _Why had they let him go this far?_ A small sound escaped the back of Lance’s throat, piercing the silence of his darkened bedroom.  He quickly sucked in another ragged breath. 

 

Because they had! They had cared for him, and stayed with him, and reassured him. They’d treated Lance like a pack! Had really none of them spent enough time with an omega to know this was how he’d react to that? That he’d get too close and keep coming back to them, asking for more? 

 

And during his past heats, it had always seemed that Shiro had no problem taking up the role of head alpha, caring for Lance, Hunk, and Pidge bringing them food, uncovering holopads from blankets and rearranging pillows all before collapsing down at the head of the nest with them. 

 

But Shiro was now talking like he didn’t want any of it. 

 

And it _hurt._

 

Lance swallowed again, pressing his arm down further as his eyes to stop the sting behind him. Shiro was right. He was an adult now. He needed to stop crying all the time. 

 

Lance hadn’t been able to stop the tears in front of Shiro, much to his humiliation. He’d ducked his head quickly, ashamed at the first pinpricks. He’d only been further proving the point Shiro was making- that Lance was a needy omega and he asked too much of those around him.

 

Lance had cleared his throat then, trying hard to make his words come out even. “Do you think I should go back on suppressants?” He’d asked miserably, not looking away from a spot on Shiro’s floor. 

 

Lance didn’t _want to_ go back on suppressants. He’d been on suppressants the entire time at the garrison. They made him feel disoriented, changed, and unlike himself because despite everything, the things piling one on top of the other against him, Lance _liked_ being an omega. He’d liked being free to be what he was and he liked being a part of his pack. 

 

Shiro had given a short sigh, sympathetic but also strained as he ran a hand through his hair and rubbed at the back of his neck. He turned his gaze to the floor, already telling Lance his answer.

 

Always so tactful, Shiro said instead, “It’s your body Lance. We wouldn’t ever want to push you to do something that makes you uncomfortable.”

 

He said it so genuinely. Lance almost believed him. 

 

“You had a pretty good handle on it out here before they ran out.” Shiro went on.

 

To be clear, Lance did not. Suppressants made you nauseous, especially if you took too many, especially if you took too many constantly for fear of your teammates finding out. His six month supply had run out so fast because we practically tripling his dosage to stave off a 4 month overdue heat. 

 

But as much as it upset him, Shiro was right. Lance needed to learn how to deal with his issues on his own, like an adult in a war and not like an omega back home. 

 

Suddenly, Lance had been struck with a thought. He blurted it out the moment it occurred to him, suddenly alight with panic. “Suppressants won’t stop this heat from coming.” 

 

He’d turned to Shiro with wide eyes. He didn’t know what _to do._ Shiro sure as hell wasn’t going to help him through this one, he _couldn’t._ With how much stress this conversation alone was causing him, Shiro’s scent would send Lance straight into a panic attack if he came anywhere near him during his heat. And that would cause heat sickness which would lead to a whole other world of problems that his teammates would have to deal with. 

 

Lance felt like the rug had been pulled out from under him and he was just left floating there as he waited for Shiro to say anything. 

 

“I know,” Shiro had said, slowly. His voice wasn't unkind but Lance could still hear the underlying frustration in it. “Which is why I encouraged you to look into multiple options. Maybe some similar species have different ways of dealing with heats, or maybe Coran has an idea.“- Shiro gave a small, tight shake of his head, shrugging his arms- “I can’t tell you exactly what to do Lance. I’m not an omega, but I do think this is worth your time to figure it out. For the team?” He pleaded with Lance with a small, tight smile. 

 

Lance was spiraling, but he’d be damned if he fell apart in front of Shiro. 

 

Pidge had once said to him, on the night of his first heat in the castle ship, over the sleeping heads of Hunk and Keith, _“Please never feel like you have to apologize for who you are.”_

 

He’d felt like he needed to apologize to Shiro then, so he did. 

 

Lance had hated the way his voice had come out, quiet and nervous. “I’m... sorry, Shiro”

 

Shiro’s face had immediately turned sympathetic. He’d stepped forward, dropping his hand to Lance’s shoulder and squeezing it, missing the way Lance flinched. 

 

“I know this is hard for you, Lance, figuring all of this out out here. I’m proud of you. You’ve really grown up since our first months out here.” 

 

Lance did his best to meet Shiro’s gaze, giving a tight, half smile before he excused himself, ducking out of Shiro’s grip. He muttered something about going to visit Coran before scurrying out of the room, fighting against tears threatening to fall. 

 

Lance, lying in bed now, finally let himself cry. Hot tears pooled against his skin where he still had his arm over his face. Quiet, miserable sobs echoed through his dark filled his dark room as he quit trying to swallow them back. 

 

Lance knew he needed to get up. He knew he still had two more volumes of Galra trade logs and guides to aliens beasts he need to get through. He knew he was still only proving Shiro right now lying here, crying.

 

The thought only made him cry harder. 

 

In the quiet of his room, for the first time in a while, Lance felt completely alone. 

 

The worst thing about it, was knowing that this was the way it was always going to be from now on.

 

* * *

 

“I’m afraid taking a hormone suppressants this close to your cycle start will cause some serious issues with how your body reacts during it” Coran advised, turning away from a screen back to Lance. He was sitting on one of the medbay tables, staring down at the floor, distracted. He cried until he couldn’t anymore, until all that was left was shame at the mess he’d made of himself. 

 

Coran went on,“But once you’re back to normal I should be able to whip something up that will do the trick.”

 

He went on to explain his thought process to tweak the small potions the paladins used to mask their scents whenever they went on stealth missions, or to planets that shared their dynamics. Lance followed along as best he could as distracted as he was. His heart felt grey and heavy as he listened. He would basically be a beta in scent, and pack role, all his omega instincts would dulled and more neutral. The nest building/pack bonding urges Lance experienced from would abate. 

 

It was better for the pack like this, he told himself. 

 

Lance trudged back to his bedroom after that, suppressants in one hand, tugging on the string of his hoodie with the other. 

 

He tried to make himself think of the plus side. Soon he wouldn’t have all this anxiety to worry about. Soon he’d be able to concentrate more on their missions, more on Voltron. Maybe he’d even be able to repair his friendship with Keith, bond over their work without his instincts getting in the way. Maybe he’d end up closer to all the paladins. Maybe his instincts had been getting in his way this whole time... 

 

Lance was so lost in thought, he didn’t notice Allura rounding the corner at the same time as him. They collided into each other. Allura’s quick reaction latching onto his arm was the only thing that kept him from toppling. 

 

Allura steaded him and looked at him with breathless shock, laughing windedly. “Oh, I’m so sorry Lance. I certainly did not see you there.”

 

Allura’s shock abated almost instantly. Lance’s did not. Anxiety lingered like a poison under his skin. He’d been feeling it for a while now, slow moving and lurking. It made him tense and flighty throughout the castle. He didn’t have the same sense of safety anymore, his instincts felt like they were constantly on edge. 

 

Allura tilted her head, watching his expression. She stepped closer, concerned. “Lance, are you alright?”

 

Lance regained himself quickly, not wanting her to worry. He shook his head to clear it and cleared his throat, slipping the small bottle Coran gave him into his hoodie pocket. He gave a small shrug, smiling tiredly at the Princess. “It’s just been a long day.”

 

Allura didn’t look wholly convinced, but she didn’t prod. “I was actually just coming to find you,” she said instead. “Shiro needs us on the bridge, we can head over together.” She held out her hand and offered it to Lance. After a pause, Lance took it. 

 

He immediately felt himself relax a bit under her warm touch. Some of the tension bled out of his shoulders as let her lead him down the hall to the main deck. 

 

Both Lotor and Shiro were standing under the holographic projector at the center of the room when him and Allura entered. A planet that Lance didn’t recognize spinning slowly in the center of the room. Allura walked with him up to Shiro and Lotor, then let him go to return to her own console across the room. 

 

Shiro glanced up from where he studied the projection with his arms crossed over his chest. “Lance,” he nodding friendlily.

 

Lotor gave him a small nod too. Then turned back to the planet. He used his hands to manipulate the projection, zooming in closer on the planet before them before speaking.

 

“The planet of Nyabala is currently locked in a civil war between the two alien populations that inhabit it. The planet itself would provide a strategic landing point in the Voltron alliance defenses, however, nothing can be accomplished with the war continuing between them. I have proposed that we send a party to help broker a treaty with one of the sides of the planet, in an attempt to resolve this conflict so we may begin setting up a strategic installation at this site.”

 

Shiro hummed thoughtfully in agreement, tilting his head as he considered. “Another base in this sector would greatly increase our ability to counter any threats in this sector.”

 

“There are two alien species on the planet, the Orak and the Dorah. The Orak seem to be the more advanced of the two species. We have contacted them and they have agreed to a hearing from the Voltron Coalition and myself.” Lotor went on. 

 

Shiro nodded, then turned to Lance. “Lance, you’ll go with him represent the coalition.”

 

Lance had to bite down on his tongue to stop himself from pointing out that he absolutely did _not_ want to run a mission with Lotor right now, and that Shiro full well _knew_ that _._ One quick glance at Shiro’s face told him this was not up for debate. 

 

Lance turned back to the holoprojector instead, huffing. “What about General Cormark? He has troops all throughout this sector.”

 

Admiral Cormark was a rouge Galra general who’d been a huge pain in their asses lately. They’d been bumping into his fighters all over the sector over the past few days. 

 

Shiro looked at him, momentarily confused before he turned back to Lotor for an answer.

 

Lotor nodded to him, reprojecting the holoscreen so it showed this sector of space. “We have some evidence he’s been conducting some trade with the natives on the planet, but so far we haven’t detected evidence of any troops nearby.”

 

Lance turned back to find Allura, not convinced. 

 

Allura met his gaze and smiled reassuringly. “Shiro and I will remain close by with the castle,” she said. “Once we are able to land we will be able to provide you full cover during your negotiations.”

 

“There’s a strong atmospheric forcefield around the planet. The planet is primitive but they’ve managed to make it fairly impenetrable. The Orak have allowed us to pass through but only with one ship. We will have to convince them to let the castle land after we arrive.” Lotor said.

 

“Until then Allura and I will maintain a perimeter around the planet in case any Galra show up,” Shiro chimed in.

 

Lance sighed and turned back to the hologram. His skin was starting to feel too hot beneath his clothing. He vaguely recognized he didn’t feel very well. None of this mission  sat right with him, it seemed like a mess of unnecessary risks. But with Shiro, Allura and Lotor all on board, Lance has a snowball's chance in hell of changing their minds. He kept his mouth shut.

 

“Alright,” He said finally, voice a little tight. “When do we start?” 

 

\------------------------------

 

Allura caught him just as Lance finished putting his armor on in the Lion’s hanger. He’d been slow to do it, his movements felt heavy and slightly disoriented. He figured it was just the stress of the mission. But he was also sweating as he pulled his flight suit on, wincing when it bunched up against his skin. He’d been breathing hard from exhaustion by the time he finished. 

 

Allura came up to him, studying him in concern. “Lance, are you alright?” Her light brows knit together. “I know it’s not ideal, you and Lotor…”

 

Lance pick up his helmet and tucked it under his arm then gave her his best smile. “ It’s just a mission. It’ll be over soon enough.” 

 

It was the exact same thing he kept telling himself.

 

Allura nodded, but she looked a little disappointed. She ducked her head for a second, sighing. “I know he’s not your favorite, but maybe this could be a good opportunity for you to understand each other better.”

 

Lance pursed his lips as he glanced over at the shuttle Lotor was going to be piloting them down in. “Yeah, maybe,” he said, turning back to Allura, shrugging. 

 

She eyed him again. “You look...unwell, Lance. Is there something wrong with your...dynamic?”

 

Lance thought back to stickiness of his skin and spinning in his head and thought, _‘huh, I might actually be in preheat.’_

 

The thought made sense, stress could set off heats early. 

 

His brain kind of just went blank after that. He actually had no idea of what he should do about it.

 

Allura continued to watch him, brow quirking further. “Lance, I can always talk to Shiro and”-

 

Lance swallowed then quickly shook his head. “No, no, no, no  it’s okay,” he said. “I’m just tired, you know. Like I said earlier.”

 

Allura studied him for a second longer. She’d just opened her mouth to say something else when the doors slid open behind her and Lotor entered the hanger. 

 

“Are you ready?” He asked Lance, coming to a stop next to Allura, a little too close if you asked Lance. 

 

Lance noted the way color her face turned warm at his nearness and had to bite his lip to stop himself from frown. “Yup,” he said. “Leggo.”

 

He walked away toward the craft. Allura let him go without saying anything else. 

  


* * *

 

 

Lotor piloted them through the small gap that opened up in the planet’s forefield down to the planet’s surface. Lance spent most of the trip gritting his teeth and sweating, wishing his paladin armor had _some_ sort of ventilation because it was exhaustingly hot. 

 

Lotor didn’t say anything  to break the silence. 

 

They landed in something like a courtyard. A swarm of alien natives cautiously stepped out from the golden buildings that surrounded them on all sides. The aliens were tall and thin with golden yellow eyes. The had pale white across their front and long bronze colored feathers that turned shades of purple and green as they stretched down from their head across their backs. 

 

“Be careful,” Lotor said quietly once they landed, releasing the pilots hatch. “The Orak are the more advanced species of this planet but we still do not know their true intention.” 

 

Lance didn’t say anything in response as the hull of their craft lifted. He was too focused on fighting the sudden dizziness in his head. 

 

The Orak surrounded them in a guard formation and lead them out of the courtyard, away from their ship. 

 

Lance looked around at the golden halls surrounding them as they walked. Sunlight streamed in from the courtyard and from the many windows scattered around the halls. It cast everything in a bright, open, warm hues. Despite the sunlight, the air was still cool around them, lifting the stifling feeling from Lance’s armor, finally allowing it to breathe. 

 

Despite the tension from the aliens and Lotor, Lance couldn’t help but admire the new planet. It was a nice change of pace from the dark cold abyss of space. 

 

The Orak led them through a heavy set of doors into a large room. A long hall stretched out before them and Lance realized they were in a throne room. 

 

There was plenty of sunlight filtering in through the windows high on the walls. At the end of the room, an Orak that was bigger than all the others sat on a throne. 

 

They leader looked similar in appearance to the others, except their feathers were much longer and spilling over the sides and back of the chair, onto the floor. Their feathers also looked more radiant, shining brighter, tinged with more colors than any of the others. 

 

Lance found himself staring at them. 

 

The Orak leader watched Lance and Lotor approach. The two of them followed their entourage until they abruptly halted, feet away from the throne. They both knelt before the Orak leader respectfully until they told them to rise. 

 

“We come with an offer of peace,” Lotor began, standing. “and with the opportunity to join the Voltron coalition; An unprecedented alliance against”- Lotor cut off when the Orak leader tilted their head.

 

“We already know of the Voltron coalition. And we know of you, Prince Lotor.” The leader turned to Lance, nodding- “and of you, blue paladin.”

 

Lance shifted under the weight of the leader’s stare. His instincts flaring up warily. 

 

“We have come to help.” Lotor said, drawing the leaders attention back to him. “You are locked in a war that you cannot win. We can help you if you agree to join us.”

 

“You seek to destroy the galra.” The leader mused plainly, settling back in their throne.

 

Lotor inclined his head. “Not all of them,” he said. “Only those that betray the galra name and refuse to recognize their true leader.”

 

The Orak leader looked at Lotor for a long second, considering. Lance could see the Galra prince start to twitch under the weight of the gaze gaze. He could tell Lotor was close to grow impatient. Lance had to refrain from rolling his eyes. He didn’t feel well enough to have to deal with the Galra prince’s temper. 

 

“The Galra take our resources from us and in turn, provide for the Dorah.” The leader said finally. “Without our cooperation, they would leave and the Dorah would turn back to us and take everything.”

 

Lotor’s eyes narrowed sharply. “We will defeat admiral Cornark with or without your help,” he said. “Then the Dorah will come for you regardless.”

 

Lance felt tension sink heavy into the room.

 

The Orak leader slowly learned forward in their chair, their feathers twitched along their head and back twitching. “Then tell me, Prince,” They said slowly. “Why should we not just kill you and your paladin, bring your castle down and be done with it?” Their voice grew distorted as they growled, sounding disjointed, like it was made of several voices.

 

Lotor materialized the black bayard in one quick movement- which, when has Shiro given him _that._ He moved fast enough that Lance barely saw it, giving him no time to act. In a second, Lotor was suddenly standing in front of the throne, blade resting beneath the chin of the leader, snarling. “You would not live to give the order” 

 

Around them, the Orak around them all immediately tensed, drawing their weapons of spears and all sorts of nasty looking golden swords, and hissing lowly in that same disjointed timber the leader had spoken in. 

 

Lance quickly looked around them, panicked. “Wait!” He cried,  running forward and grabbing onto Lotor’s arm, jerking the Galra prince back away from the Orak leader. 

 

Lotor stumbled with him, and immediately turned on him, blistering with anger.

 

“We allow you to land on our planet and this is how you _negotiate_ ” The Orak leader bellowed before Lance could say anything.

 

Lotor noticed the guards encroaching around them. He readied his sword, gritting his teeth. 

 

“Wait!” Lance cried out again, looking desperately between the leader, Lotor and the rest of the Orak. “No, Wait.” He turned his gaze to the leader pleadingly. 

 

The leader held it for a long second. Then, slowly raised their hand. The Orak guards halted their movement. 

 

“You’re right.” Lance said, when the leader gestured for him to speak. His voice came out breathless. “You’re right. We’ve been telling you all this time how great Voltron is, when we should be showing you.” Lance stepped forward further, putting himself between Lotor and the Orak leader. “Let us show you. We came here to negotiate peace first.” He gave Lotor a pointed glare over his shoulder then turned back to the leader. “Let us. We will speak to the Dorah ourselves.” 

 

The Orak leader scoffed at him, turning around and sitting back in their throne. “The Dorah will not speak, blue paladin. Do you not think we have tried many times for peace?”

 

“Let _us_ try,” Lance insisted. “If they are truly as ruthless as you claim, we will help you defeat them.”

 

“Lance,” Lotor hissed from behind. “we get nothing out of this bargain, it is useless to the coalition.”

 

Lance didn’t turn back around to answer. “Voltron is about defending the universe, not bargaining.” He kept his gaze fixed determinedly on the Orak leader. “We will help you with the Dorah. After you will be free to make your choice to join the coalition yourself. We hope you will help us to defeat the remaining Galra in this war, but the choice will still remain to be yours.” 

 

“You speak as though you know you can defeat the Dorah. None of our strongest have ever succeeded.”

 

Lance turned then, to glance around at the Orak’s glinting spears and golden swords around him. “We may have...a slight tactical advantage over your strongest…” He hedged, turning back to face the leader. 

 

The leader grunted, then stood, shaking their head. The came to stand before Lance and Lotor, towering above them both.

 

Lance could feel Lotor tense behind him. 

 

“You underestimate the Dorah,” The leader said, frowning.“But if you think you can defeat them and their Melekanth, we will not stop you from trying.”

 

Lance sagged with relief. 

 

“But we will not let your castle land,” the leader went on to say. “If you lose to the Dorah, they will then know we sent you to try.”

 

Lotor immediately began to protest, but Lance said cut him off. “Deal.”

 

“Lance!”

 

Lance turned slightly around to face him, glaring hotly at the angered prince. “What’s the point of Voltron if we can’t even help the very people we’re meant to defend?”

 

Lotor glared back at him, leaning in closer dangerously. “You’re meddling in planet affairs you do not understand.”

 

The leader interrupted them, once again returning to take his throne. “If you’ve made your decision, you may follow my guards and Meero. They will take you to the Dorah.”

 

Lance glanced back at Lotor once again before he walking across the room to the Orak the leader had gestured to. 

 

Lotor held his gaze across the throne room for a long, tense moment. 

 

Finally, he dematerialized the black bayard. He stood back up straight into natural his perfect posture, and then crossed the room as well. He hardly brushed past Lance to the Orak that were supposed to be leading them.

 

“Come then,” he said. “We will finish this.”

 

\---------------------

 

As the two of them exited the hall, they slipped their helmets back on. 

 

Immediately, Shiro’s furious voice came in over the comms. _“You two have to go back in there and convince them to lower their barrier!”_

 

Lance winced as the two of them followed the Orak through the golden hall. “Sorry, now can do, Shiro,” he said quietly. “We made a deal. Let us just talk to these other guys, maybe we can convince them to join the coalition too.”

 

The band of guards led them out of the Orak palace. A huge mass of what almost looked like a bright fuschia ocean stretched out from rocky cliffs on one side of the palace. The guards led them in the other direction, down a small path through bright blue-tinged grass.

 

“ _Lance,”_ Shiro snarled _“_ that was a direct order. Get them to lower the barrier, _now_.” Shiro’s voice held so much venom that it made Lance pause. He was trying to use an Alpha command, he realized. Lance grit his teeth. If Shiro thought he was going to be able to control Lance like that, he was wrong. 

 

Lance opened his mouth to spit something he’d probably regret back but Lotor cut him off. 

 

“If I may interject,” he said, still walking in front of Lance. “While Lance’s compromise was _not_ part of my initial plan, the circumstances Lance has negotiated do provide the possibility that we may get the Orak to join the coalition, while the alternative does leave us with neither team on our side.”

 

Lance’s brown furrowed in confusion. Was Lotor defending him? He eyed the back of the prince's head skeptically as he continued after him and their entourage.

 

Oddly enough, it was Allura’s voice that answered them over the comms. 

 

“Alright you two, keep your comms on and alert us at any sign of trouble. We won’t hesitate to shoot through this barrier to retrieve you if need by.”

 

“Acknowledged.”

 

“Copy that, Princess.”

 

\-----------------------------

  


The Orak led them to the crest of another hill before they stopped. Each of them immediately went still, the slim feathers on their heads quivered as they looked out at the land before them. Lance and Lotor followed their gaze.

 

The blue grass stretched out like a sea across the landscape. Huge hills like the one they’d just crested scooped through the landscape. Craggily rocks and boulders littered the ground intermittently. To one side the moor-like landscape seemed to go on forever. To the otherside, it dropped off sharply into that same fuschia ocean. The water lapped at the cliffs as one viscous uniform mass before it slid away. Lance could see there was a small beach at the bottom of the cliffs. He wondered if the water here was actually toxic. A beach day on this plant didn’t seem so bad, although it was a bit too cool. 

 

The Orak called Meero turned around to face them. The breeze off the ocean ruffled his feathers as he spoke. “We will not go any further. Follow this path and you will be in the Dorah hunting grounds-“ he gestured forwards towards the worn walk way that led down the hill. “Eventually, the Dorah will find you out there.”

 

Lance gulped. 

 

Meero turned then to face him fully, his yellow eyes narrowed slightly. “You must be careful, blue paladin. The Dorah will not be gentle because of your status.” 

 

Lance immediately jerked away from him, affronted. Did this asshole just think he went around expecting Voltron’s enemies to go easy on him? What a dick thing to say. Newsflash, asshole, the Voltron Coalition acceptance process goes both ways and guess who just secured themselves a vote “No”. 

 

Before he could speak, Lotor moved forward, starting down the hill. 

 

“Come Lance”

 

Lance shot the Orak one last indignant glare before following. His ears burned hot, but there was no outlet for his anger.

 

    -----------------

They walked for a while through the plains. They stayed near the cliffs to their right, just to avoid getting lost in the sprawl of the plains. 

 

Lance’s tried to stay as alert as he could as they walked, but he still didn’t feel well. After all the dramatics with the Orak, his head felt faint, disoriented. The air around them was still cool, but it wasn’t doing as much to abate the heat under rolling under Lance’s suit anymore. He knew he was running hotter than he’d been when he left. It wasn’t a good sign. His heat was coming a lot faster than it usually did. 

 

Lance forced himself to focus back on the mission. His sharp blue eyes scanned the horizon, searching for a threat instead of thinking about how woefully underprepared he was for this heat. 

 

He and Lotor came to the top of another hill and Lotor stopped. Lance was struggling to keep his breathing under control, masking it under a few put-upon, dramatic sighs. The heat within him making all this hiking that much more exhausting.

 

The plains seemed like they’d barely changed around them. A few craggily boulders developed out into a cliff to their left, the highest point around them. 

 

Nothing stirred across the whole landscape. Lance’s eyes kept flickering across the tops of the farthest hills, scouring for any sign of the warriors they were meant to face. 

 

“Uh…” Lance began, turning back around. He glanced over to Lotor, who was staring at the horizon with a frown. “Maybe they forfeited?”

 

Lotor shook his head slowly. “The Orak are a strong people. Only something much stronger than them would push them into a life like this…Do not underestimate them.” He said, expression severe.

 

Lance leaned back a bit under the intensity of  it. “Oookay, dude. I get it, I'm just trying to lessen the tension, is all. Sheesh”

 

Luckily, Lotor didn’t insist they keep moving. The two of them just waited together, scanning the horizon. Lance eventually had to sit down. He flopped down into the blue-tinged grass with a loud sigh, trying to cover up his actually head spinning, over heated, exhaustion. It seemed to work. Lotor looked down at him and just rolled his eyes.

 

Lance sat with his legs crossed, hands fidgeting in the blueish grass in front of them as he watched the fields before them.

 

They waited for a while, the only sound being the breeze from the ocean rustling through the landscape. 

 

Then- Lance leaned forward, squinting-  cloud of dust was moving across the plains toward them, moving alarmingly fast. “What is that?”

 

Next to him, Lotor readied the black bayard. “Trouble.”

 

Lance got to his feet and materialized his own bayard. They both watched the cloud moving closer. 

 

“I hope your somewhat good with that thing” Lotor said eventually, eyes dropping to Lance’s rifle.

 

“Lucky for you,” Lance said cocking a grin and hoisting his blaster against his shoulder, “I’m the best”

 

Lotor humphed and turned away.

 

The ground beneath them was starting to vibrate as the group of fighters drew closer.

 

“Get to higher ground,” Lotor commanded but Lance was already on the move. The cliff to their left was just low enough he was able to jet pack up to the top. 

 

“Allura, were switching to local. Patch to our channel if you need us” Lance relayed before he switched his helmet over to the local channel and beeped through to Lotor. It would cut them off from the castle communications, but it lessened the risk of interference in middle of battle. 

 

Lance got into position and transformed his bayard into sniper rifle. He knelt quickly and braced it against his chest, peering down the scope. 

 

“Alrighty,” he relayed “looks like the situation is…” Lance moved his sight to the cloud of dust, sussing out the threat. “Seven combatants on some type of….Rhino bear?” They were about the size of a regular rhino, and their riders were smaller than the Orak and slightly smaller than a human themselves. The beasts were peculiar though. They inkled at something in the back of his head but Lance didn’t know why. “More Rhino than bear, honestly” Lance concluded.

 

“Rhino?” Lotor demanded, confused. 

 

“Uh, yeah.” Lance said, adjusting the scope on his rifle, then lengthening it into position. “They’re a like a big uh, horny...“

 

“Lance!”

 

“-beast thing.” Lance finished, snickering to himself. 

 

The rumbling was getting louder. Lance sank down into his position, kneeling and bracing his rifle. He could feel the vibrations through the rocks on the cliff. The Dorah were close, coming over the last hill between them. 

 

“Got a plan?” he asked Lotor.

 

“Yes,” Lotor said, widening his stance. He transformed the black bayard from a sword into a staff and swung it around himself, testing the weight. “Cover me.”

 

Lance rolled his eyes at the prince’s dramatics but lined up his cover shot nevertheless. 

 

The first few blasts he fired glanced off the skin of the alien rhinos, unaffected. Lance swore and quickly re-adjusted his shot, aiming for the rider instead. The one closest to Lotor toppled off the beast just before the prince could strike, taking a clean shot to the upper arm. 

 

Lance grinned to himself, adjusted, and then aimed again.

 

Lotor and the first Dorah came together in a flurry of feathers and weapons. Lance didn’t have time to line up another clean shot to take out any more of the riders, but he kept the four other riders at bay with wide shots as Lotor knocked the first rider from their seat. 

 

A spear suddenly sailed past Lance’s head, narrowly missing him and embedding somewhere behind him. Lance swore loudly before refocusing, firing a few shots in retaliation then refocusing on covering Lotor. 

 

“Please tell me that didn’t kill you.” Lotor asked, breathing hard. 

 

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” 

 

The prince had already dismounted two riders. Lance aimed and fired a shot to hit one of the downed riders in the thigh,  keeping them down. He switched quickly to fire another series of shots in front of another charging Dorah beast, diverting their path away from Lotor. 

 

Lotor dodged out of the way of a strike spear of the Dorah he was currently fighting, but not quick enough. He ended up taking a hit from the hilt of the staff to his face. He staggered backward, but quickly regained himself, striking back with his staff and dismounting the rider. 

 

“Oof,” Lance said, wincing. “That’s gonna interrupt some beauty routines.” He fired again and incapacitated the rider Lotor has knocked on the ground before he could get back up.

 

Lotor dodged out of the way of another spear that sailed dangerously to him, lodging into the ground. “Will you just _cover_ me?!” he snarled, whirling around to grab it.

 

“Yeah yeah, your royal purple highness.” Lance muttered. He shot another spear out the hand of a Dorah’s just as they aimed it. 

 

Lotor then whipped forward and hurled the spear straight into the chest of the Dorah Lance had just disarmed. 

 

The rider let out a horrible shriek as the spear plunged into his chest before falling off his mount. 

 

Lance slowly raised his head from the scope of his rifle, watching in horror as the rider writhed on the ground, gurgling and scrambling at the spear in his chest. He frowned deeply. “We shouldn’t be killing these guys, we said we’d talk to them.” He said, brows knitting together.

 

“Do they seem to be in a mood for discussion?” Lotor grunted as he whipped around, scanning the rest of the field and readying himself for another attack. 

 

The three remaining Dorah had abruptly pulled back away from him, turning away in wide arcs. Two ran forward in front of Lotor, one ran behind. The riders slowed to a halt a ways a away. They all then turned slowly, facing Lotor. 

 

For a second, the only sound Lance could hear was his own breathing as he trained his rifle on the single Dorah standing behind Lotor.

 

The Dorah’s golden eyes then slitted into very narrow slits. They each bared their teeth, hissing viciously. It was a different sort of dangerous anger than before, more violent and deadly. 

 

Lance swallowed nervously. He watched Lotor shift too, recognizing something had changed. He was angling his body slightly, doing his best to keep all three Dorah within his sights. 

 

“I’ve got the one behind you,” Lance said, tense and waiting for the Dorah’s first movement. 

 

Lotor spun his staff behind him and widened his stance, turning around fully to face the other two. 

 

It was definitely a consequence of his ADHD that Lance’s thoughts drifted back to why the beasts they were mounted on seemed so familiar. Something stirred in the back of his mind. 

 

The beasts were different from both the Dorah and the Orak, they were out of place here. 

 

Almost as if...

 

Wait.

 

Lance fumbled his helmet comms with one hand, steadying his rifle with the other 

 

“Allura!”

 

“Lance? What is it?”

 

“Did the Orak ever mention what it was specifically the Dorah were trading from the Galra?” He demanded.

 

The two rhino-beasts the Dorah were on in front of Lotor suddenly dropped their mouths open. A bright white light began building in the back of their throat. 

 

_Oh, Shit!_

 

Lotor leapt out of the way just as the two bright beams of light shot forward. They sailed, blindingly fast across the field, past Lotor and straight into face of the rock cliff Lance on. 

 

Rock and dust exploded around him. The whole face of the cliff lurched forward, sending Lance staggering. He swore loudly, scrambling to his feet in a second before diving forward blindly off of the cliff just as the rocks crumbled beneath him. 

 

He hit the ground, hard, landing on his side. His bayard flew from from his hands, disappearing in the thick cloud of dust as rock fell around him. 

 

Lance groaned, head spinning and body aching from the impact of the fall. He blinked slowly, vision spinning, and moved to get back to his feet. From behind him, a heavy boulder suddenly collided hard into the back of his helmet, slamming his head hard back down into the ground. 

 

Pain blazed up through his neck at the force of the impact, but thankfully his helmet took most of the damage. 

 

It took a moment for him to get a bearing in his head again after that. Eventually, Lance pushed himself back up again. The visuals in his screen flickered then died as he slowly sat back up. The dirt and dust still hadn’t settled, he could hardly see anything around him. Pieces of glass from the screen slowly fell out of his helmet, dropping to the ground in front of him. Lance took a second, blinking hard at the ground. Static crackled in his headset. The comms were apparently also busted now. 

 

Lance pulled his helmet off, it was hindering more than helping at this point. He winced as the movement pulled at his sore neck. The armor on the outside of it was dented and cracked. Wires sparked out of the side which probably explained the damaged comms. 

 

Lance tossed the helmet away from himself, huffing. Great. He still couldn’t see much through the dust, but he could make out the shape of his unactivated bayard a few feet away. The sight of it served to remind him that ‘Oh yeah, I’m in the middle of a battle.’ 

 

Lance got to his feet. He picked up his bayard and activated it. At the same time, the wind picked up. Lance grunted, screwing his eyes shut as the dust and dirt blew around him. 

 

When it finally settled, the air around him was clearer again. 

 

The first thing Lance noticed saw was two of the Dorah, still on their beasts, standing at the edge of the ocean cliff. 

 

The second thing was that Lotor was missing. So was the third Dorah. 

 

Lance scanned the field behind him quickly, despite his sore neck. There was nothing to greet him save for the pile of rubble and rock he’d just fallen from.  

 

Lance turned back to look at the two Dorah again. They were peering over the edge of the cliff, feather’s quivering and talking to each other in muted chirps. Slowly, one of them raised a spear over his head, aiming at something over the side of the cliff.  

 

Lance suddenly realized what was happening. 

 

He raised his rifle and shot in one clean movement, hitting one of the Dorah in the shoulder. The alien immediately yelled, dropping the spear before toppling to the side, over the side of the cliff. 

 

The remaining Dorah whipped around, hissing violently.

 

The beat beneath him began to charge, gaining speed quickly, heaving breaths. Lance held his ground, aiming his bayard and waiting until the Dorah rode into position. 

 

Then he fired.

 

The crack of his gun seemed to echo across the field.

 

The rider fell, toppling to the ground. Unfortunately, the beast kept charging forward.  Another bright light built up in its mouth. 

 

Lance waited until the very last second, then side stepped out of the way. He switched hands with his bayard, rematerialized it into a sword then stabbed it forward, straight into the beasts skull. 

 

The beast bellowed loudly, whipping its head violently, and jerking Lance with his grip still on the sword with it. The rhino-beat flung him hard into its side, beating Lance into its hard skin. Stars exploded across Lance’s vision. He finally released his grip and landed sprawled on his back, the air knocked out of him. 

 

The sky above him swirled in an out as his consciousness waned and he struggled to breath again.

 

The beast staggered backward as Lance’s struggled to remember how to move. It collapsed into the ground hard, falling to its knees braying it’s dying breath. It fell to the ground with a heavy thud, crushing the blue grass underneath it, along with Lance’s still splayed outstretched arm. 

 

* * *

 

  


“Allura, come in. its Shiro, can you hear me?”

 

“I can hear you now, Shiro, but the Orak’s barrier is still creating interference with our communications.” 

 

Shiro swore as he guided Black into a rough landing in the middle of a field. He climbed out of the Black lion, looking around desperately. 

 

There were carcasses of strange animals lying around, the body of one alien speared through the chest. But no sign of Lance and Lotor. 

 

Shiro looked down at his arm guard. Two little blips of light were on the map nearby. He immediately followed the purple one. The thought _find him, find Lotor_ thrummed inside him like a pulse. He followed the location of the purple dot over to the edge of the cliff, dread growing in his stomach. He halted at the very edge. The screen on his arm beeped, beeped, flashing green. 

 

Shiro paused, looking at the scuffs in the grass, the way a bit of the rock fell away…

 

It only took a second to click into place. He whipped back around and sprinted to Black. 

 

The lion landed hard in the fuschia waves, sending splashes of the strange liquid high into the air. Shiro raced down the ramp of his lion, onto the thin slice of beach where the galran prince was sprawled across the sand.

 

_No!_

 

With shaky hands, Shiro rolled the prince over, checking for a pulse. It took a moment, but eventually he sighed with relief.

 

“Allura, I’ve found Lotor. He’s needs immediate medical attention.” 

 

He waited for a response. 

 

“Allura? Come in!” 

 

Nothing but the roar of the ocean filled his ears. 

 

They didn’t have time for this.

 

Shiro lifted the prince up in his arms and hurried to Black. He set the prince down in the second pilots chair behind his and strapped him in, before returning to his own pilot seat. He tried hailing Allura through the comms one last time. Nothing but silence answered back. 

 

Shiro debated with himself for an agonizing second.

 

Lotor was going to need expert medical attention, which, Coran, as knowledgeable as he was, wasn’t equipped to supply. He needed Galra healers. 

 

Shiro plotted a course back to the Galra headquarters. 

“Allura, come in” he tried one last time, broadcasting his signal wider and hoping it would reach her. 

 

“Shiro?” As staticy voice came in, distorted over the comms. It sounded odd but he didn’t care.

 

“I’m taking Lotor to the Galran headquarters, they’ll be the only ones who can heal him. Lance is still out there somewhere, you’ll have to extract him.”

 

Nothing but static answered his call but Shiro knew he couldn’t wait around any longer. 

 

He pushed Black into motion and shot up into the air, zipping through the hole he’d created in the Orak’s barrier and speeding off into the depths of space. 

 

* * *

 

 

Three Dorah warriors were approaching him.

 

The weight of the beast on top of his arm kept Lance pinned where he was. Lance pushed hard against it with his free hand, breathing hard, sweating, with his head head still swimming. Everything everything around him felt slow, sluggish, except for the pain. Lance cried out he jerked his pinned arm. Something in it had definitely broken, despite his arm-guard. He whined lowly in pain and panic as he glanced quickly over his shoulder. The Dorah were getting closer 

 

Lance grit his teeth together and in a last-ditch, desperate, effort, jerked hard on his arm, praying it would be enough to budge the beast. 

 

He cried out loudly a pain swept back up the limb, the beast still keeping him pinned.

 

The Dorah approached. Lance let out a low warning growl from the back of his throat as the three aliens drew into his line of sight. No-one liked being trapped but omega’s were exceptionally prone instinctual panic when trapped. 

 

The three Dorah stared down at him where he lay, curled against the side of the beast pinning him. Lance growled again, low and warning. The Dorah had stopped a ways away, uneasy at the sound. They were each armed but they made no move to raise their weapons. He could tell that these were different from the ones they’d been fighting.

 

Lance instincts grew louder inside him as the Dorah stared down at him. His heartbeat began to race, blood pounded in his ears. Before he knew it, he found himself desperately yanking one last time on his arm again, begging it to come free. 

 

The beasts’ body didn’t budge. 

 

Tears spilled down Lance’s cheeks from the pain. The Dorah watched.

 

“They were wrong to send you out here like this, young one” One of them said, taking a slow step forward. His voice sounded pained and horrified. “Your kind was not meant to fight us.”

 

Lance growled again, shifting closer against the beast’s carcass just to get away from _them_. The pain was making him dizzier. “Just…” he began breathlessly, heaving and glaring up at the Dorah- “just shut the _fuck_ _up.”_

 

One of the Dorah behind the other tsked, disappointed. 

 

The one closest spoke again. _“_ Give us the name of your master and we will contact them.”

 

Lance’s glare snapped back to them, heat crawling across his face as more tears pooled in his eyes. “I don’t have a master, asshole _”_ Lance snapped, furiously. 

 

One of the other Dorah shook their head, murmuring“Such violence.”

 

Lance rolled his eyes, frustrated, shaking the tears from his face roughly. “Oh just- _fuck_ you,” he spat. “Where is my teammate? What did you do with him?” He asked as he finally gave up tugging on his arm. He collapsed back onto his shoulder, breathing hard and craning his neck to keep glaring at the Dorah above him. 

 

The Dorah must’ve taken his exhaustion as an open invitation because he stepped closer and kneeling down near Lance’s face, way too close for comfort. Lance immediately tried to flinch back, crying out again when the movement pulled on his arm. 

 

The Dorah blinked at him slowly until he calmed down again, unphased. “Your teammate was not the bargain we offered. You attacked our people. Had you not been a Sahili, we would not have shown you this kind of mercy.” He reached a hand towards Lance and said,“Now, name your master and we will-“

 

“ _Don’t touch me_ ” Lance hissed so violently he even startled himself a little. He felt his throat start to close up with panic and fear as the unfamiliar scent of the Dorah washed over him. This was all quickly becoming too much. 

 

The from behind tutted again, stepping forward as well, Lance couldn’t see them anymore. His vision was swimming and his breathing was becoming labored, short and quick in stuttering gasps. 

 

“Your teammates have left you, the black lion saved the prince and left the planet.”

 

Lance shook his head vehemently. “No, Shiro wouldn’t do that, you assholes.”

 

“We tell no lies” Another hissed. 

 

“This is your last chance Blue paladin. Name your master.”

 

“You can go to _hell.”_

 

The Dorah above him let out a frustrated noise and finally stood up straight. “Fine, you have made your choice.”

 

“You are ungrateful for the help we offer you in your time of need, Sahili.” Another Dorah said from behind him.

 

“Stop _calling_ me that.”

 

They ignored him. “You will die here, pinned under a Melakanth.”

 

More hot tears of frustration and desperation were sliding down his face. “Shiro didn’t _leave me_ ” he said, red faced and choking on his words. He yanked hard on his arm again, renewed with the desperation to free himself as panic settled heavy in his chest. 

 

The Dorah warriors ignored his cry of pain as they walked away. 

 

There was a long moment after that where all Lance could hear was his own heavy breathing and the blood roaring in his ears.

 

 _Shiro was coming._ He tried to tell himself. _Shiro was coming_

 

It wasn’t working.

 

His heart leapt suddenly in his chest.  “He’s coming. He’s-he’s coming” Lance gasped out loud, scrambling to bring himself back under control as he lay there, shaking, next to the carcass of an alien beast. He tried for a few more pitiful seconds to convince himself that Shiro wouldn’t abandon him, he was coming. 

 

He was coming.

 

_Shiro…_

 

Lance’s throat seized, a choked sob suddenly escaped him. 

 

Finally, something in him just _caved,_ Lance was helpless to stop it. He slipped and he felt himself fall.  

 

And he _fell so, so far._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter will be riddled with pack-bonding/fluff in order to make up for the cliff-hanger I left this one on D: Thanks again to you all for being so patient and for all the kind reviews. I'm really excited to finally finish this one.

**Author's Note:**

> Things get better for Lance, buuuuut they do get worse first... ;) Thank you for the read!


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